Odell Beckham Rips Giants for Trading Him to Cleveland

Getty Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Odell Beckham Jr. doesn’t believe the New York Giants took the best offer on the table last March when they decided to ship him to the Cleveland Browns. 

Instead, he thinks they sent him to the long struggling AFC North franchise to “put a stain” on his career, which he breaks down in the latest edition of Sports Illustrated.

“This wasn’t no business move,” he told the magazine. “This was personal. They thought they’d send me here to die.”

If that was the goal, the Giants clearly misread what was going on in Cleveland with No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield establishing himself as the franchise’s QB and a slew of young talent changing the stigma that for so long hung around the team.

Beckham believes he’s a perfect fit with the Browns, playing with Mayfield, who he has already praised repeatedly this training camp for his leadership style and swagger, and Jarvis Landry, his best friend and college teammate.

“I’ve never had that before,” Beckham says.

Jarvis Landry Had Similar Sentiment to Odell Beckham After Trade

Landry and Beckham shared the same sentiment about their former team sending them to the Browns — although Landry probably had a little more of a case that the Dolphins were trying to hurt his career by sending him to Cleveland.

The Browns paid a bargain bin price for Landry, who had spent his first four NFL seasons in Miami. All it took to pry the Pro Bowler from the Dolphins was a pair of draft picks — a fourth-rounder and seventh-round pick. On top of that, the Browns were still under Hue Jackson and coming off a historic 0-16 season.

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“I just felt like, for some reason, Adam [Gase] sent me here to die,” Landry said in an interview with ESPN.

Landry made the Pro Bowl last year with the Browns, leading the team in every major receiving category but touchdowns. After a busy offseason that saw the franchise land Beckham, running back Kareem Hunt and Pro Bowl defensive end Olivier Vernon, Landry has felt the change.

“That stigma, that aura that was always over the Cleveland Browns,” he said. “I can feel it coming off.”

Baker Mayfield Slams Giants for Daniel Jones Pick

Baker Mayfield became the second Brown interviewed by GQ in recent months for a long-form feature, and the man who made a name for himself by waking up feeling dangerous did not hold back.

Mayfield — seemingly unprompted — told the magazine that he was shocked that the Giants took Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft.

“I cannot believe the Giants took Daniel Jones,” Mayfield said. “Blows my mind.”

Jones had a 17–19 record in college but fits the mold that many older minds around the game still hold to when it comes to quarterbacks. He’s 6-foot-5 with a big arm and looks good in shorts.

Coming into the draft, Mayfield had to deal with all types of concerns and questions about his height (6-foot-1), despite compiling a 39–9 and a Heisman trophy over his storied college career.

“Some people overthink it,” Mayfield said. “That’s where people go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.

“Either you have a history of winning and being that guy for your team or you don’t.”

To Jones’ credit, he has been solid so far in the preseason. Against the Bears in Week 2 of the preseason, Jones completed 11-of-14 throws for 161 yards and a touchdown, which was a 15-yard strike to TJ Jones just before halftime. His strong play has led to a conversation that he could possibly replace the 38-year-old Eli Manning at some point this season and has quieted some of the boos he heard from the city before even taking the field.

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